Card. Ouellet, Prefect for Bishops, on how bishops should teach

Posted on 20 August 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I have been favorably impressed by Card. Ouellet since I met him Rome. 

From LifeSite:

Ouellet: We Need Bishops With ‘Spiritual Discernment’ over ‘Political Calculation’
“We have suffered from this mentality of dissent” that is “still dominating the intelligentsia,” said Ouellet.

By Patrick B. Craine

QUEBEC, August 19, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bishops “need spiritual discernment and not just political calculation of the risk of the possibility of the message being received,” said Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the newly-appointed prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops, in an interview this week.

“We have to dare to speak to the deep heart, where the Spirit of the Lord is touching people beyond what we can calculate,” he told Canadian Catholic News’ Deborah Gyapong.

During Cardinal Ouellet’s eight years as the archbishop of Quebec City and primate of Canada, he has become known as one of the country’s greatest defenders of faith, life, and the family.

This past spring he drew sharp criticism, from within and outside the Church, after he reaffirmed the Church’s teaching on the sanctity of unborn life, even in cases of rape. He later unapologetically reiterated his views on abortion in a press conference arranged to address the controversy.

Earlier this week the head of the Quebec Bishops Assembly, Bishop Martin Veillette, suggested in a critical interview that while Ouellet has desired to “emphasize certain points of view that he considers important,”  “There are times when it is more important to keep silent than to speak. [That path, it seems to me, has been chosen too often.]

“There are things like that, sometimes, that you need to know how to manage,” he said. “It’s a bit delicate.”

But in the recent interview, Ouellet said that in addition to fearlessly preaching the teachings of the Church, bishops must embrace them deeply.  “Then you have the power of conviction,” he said.
 
[Watch this.] “If you state it only formally and in the end you do not really want to see it applied because you don’t believe that it is possible that people accept it, you are in trouble for the transmission of the message,” he added.

The cardinal, further, said the Church needs what Gyapong called a “new intellectual dynamism” to “recapture the spirit of Christianity” and “create a new Christian culture.” [Shades of the new dicastery Pro Repropaganda.]
 
“We need intellectuals for that, theologians, philosophers, Christians who really believe in the Gospel and share the doctrine of the Church on moral questions,” he said.  “We have suffered from this mentality of dissent” that is “still dominating the intelligentsia.”  [I have occasionally written about the false dichotomy that the left/liberals have a penchant for setting up between "intellectual" and "pastoral"… or even "pastor-e-al".  What Card. Ouellet is doing here, I think, is pointing to a proper integration of intellectual and pastoral.]
 
“There is no real discipleship there, real discipleship,” he added. “The discipleship that is emerging is from those who believe and who really love the Church.”

The former Primate of Canada and Archbishop of Quebec City celebrated his farewell Mass on Sunday, the feast of the Assumption, at Ste. Anne de Beaupre.  The church was packed with over 2,000 faithful, with hundreds others being turned away for lack of space.  After his homily, he was congratulated with a lengthy standing ovation.

In his new position as head of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Ouellet will assist the pope in choosing the next generation of the world’s bishops.

In that role, he told Gyapong, he will seek out bold “men of faith” with “the guts to help people live it out.”

 

WDTPRS kudos to His Eminence the Prefect.

Posted in Fr. Z KUDOS, New Evangelization, The Drill | Tagged
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PODCAzT 110 & WDTPRSL: Learning the Roman Canon in Latin for Seminarians

Posted on 19 August 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I received a nice voice mail from some seminarians who are learning how to say the Extraordinary Form of Holy Mass on their own.  They asked for help with the Latin, since they have not ever heard the Roman Canon in Latin.

So… I made a rapid recording of the Roman Canon in Latin using the 1962MR.  I put in a few little bits from the Novus Ordo version of the Canon as well.

I took this very deliberately.  This is not how you would read it.  I offer this as a tool for learning. The key would be for you you listen to this and then go back to read along, working from a photocopy and circling the tricky parts, and then reviewing.  Reciting this several times a day for several days will finally get it into your tongue and mind.

I added the bits from the Novus Ordo version for a pointed reason. 

I am a little concerned that using Latin is going to be segregated sharply into the traditional form of Mass rather than in the Novus Ordo.  People might be tempted to say, "If you want Latin, go to that Mass".  That is one reason why I object to calling the traditional form or Extraordinary Form, simply "the Latin Mass". 

Latin is also the language of the Novus Ordo.

But there you have it.  I hope this will be helpful for seminarians (and perhaps priests or bishops) who are doing some work on their own.

BTW, when you hear volume shift or two, that is where I had phone calls!

https://zuhlsdorf.computer/podcazt/10_8_19.mp3

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SOME RECENT PODCAzTs:

109 10-08-17 A dust up in ancient Carthage and parishes that schism
108 10-07-23 The new translation of the 3rd Eucharistic Prayer; Fr. Z digresses and rants
107 10-07-01 Most Precious Blood and your sins; Interview with Fr. Finigan
106 10-06-25 John Henry Newman’s Kindly Light

Enjoy!

Posted in PODCAzT, PRAYERCAzT: What Does The (Latin) Prayer Really Sound L | Tagged
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Medal of Honor winners to vets returning home: Help is there!

Posted on 19 August 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A reader sent me a link to something I found very moving.

Some recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor joined together to make a video PSA to encourage America’s military to seek help when adjusting to life after combat, particularly for post-traumatic stress (PTS).

You can find their website and the video here: http://www.medalofhonorspeakout.org/

I doubt very much that there is a member of the military today who doesn’t know about PTS.  What I don’t doubt is that people are people, and sometimes it is very hard to bend and admit that something isn’t going right and look for help.  Perhaps seeing and hearing Medal of Honor recipients talk about this so frankly will help them over come a sense that bravery means never admitting you are in pain.  

The men in the video show that "Never quit." and "Don’t be defeated." don’t mean never looking for help. 

Here is the video.  Be sure to go over and look at that site and perhaps share it with some vets who are returning home and who may be carrying some heavy invisible wounds and have actually brought something of the enemy home with them. 

There are many videos at that site.  This is only one of them.

WDTPRS kudos for this fantastic initiative.

[flv]10_08_19_medalofhonorspeakout.flv[/flv]
 

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Fr. Z KUDOS, Just Too Cool, The Campus Telephone Pole | Tagged , ,
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WDTPRS: Sanctus

Posted on 19 August 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

In the print version of WDTPRS, the weekly column, I have been comparing the lame-duck ICEL translation of the Ordinary of Holy Mass still hear in our churches with the new, approved version we will one day be able to use.

I have reached the Sanctus/Benedictus.

This is something of what I offered in the most recent column I sent in.

The sacred action of Holy Mass transcends the bounds of earth.  Every Mass is wreathed about by the heavenly hosts of innumerable angels. 

The first section of the Sanctus is inspired by Isaiah 6:3, which describes the Prophet’s vision of the throne of God.  It is worth seeing an extended passage of chapter 6 to get a sense of what our own attitude should be at this moment of Holy Mass:

In the year that King Uzziah died [+759 BC] I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.  Above him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.  And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.”  And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.  And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar.  And he touched my mouth, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven.” (Isaiah 6:1-7 RSV)

“But Father! But Father!”, some might be saying as they read this.  “You are certainly a romantic at heart.  Your are being overly dramatic to associate this passage with our attitude at Mass!”. 

Hardly!  Consider that the last part of this passage from Isaiah, the description of the mighty seraphim angel coming to the prophet with the burning coal, was used at every Mass for a thousand years.  Before the reading of the Gospel the priest would say the prayer called the Munda cor meum:

“Cleanse my heart and my lips, O Almighty God, Who cleansed the lips of the Prophet Isaiah with a burning coal.  In Your gracious mercy deign so to purify me that I may worthily proclaim Your holy Gospel. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Lord, grant me your blessing. The Lord be in my heart and on my lips that I may worthily and fittingly proclaim His holy Gospel.”

This hymn/prayer both invokes the presence of the greatest of created beings, the holy angels and acknowledges their presence.  They bow before God.  They bow before and with the priest, alter Christus, as they minister at our altars in our churches.  Later during the Roman Canon the priest requests that the angels take our sacrifice to the altar in heaven.

The word Sabaoth looks a bit like the word “Sabbath”, but it is something quite different.  Sabaoth is from Hebrew tsaba’, “that which goes forth, an army, war, a host.”  Sabaoth or Tzevaot (in some transliterations) is used by the Jews – and by us during Holy Mass – as a title for YHWH, God.   We invoke the God of the heavenly hosts. 

The Hebrew word hosanna is essentially “help” or “save, I pray”.  Depending on the context it is an appeal which the Jews raised to God begging for intervention and mercy or it is a shout of praise.  For Christians, hosanna is a recognition that Jesus is the Messiah and Lord as well as a cry for our own salvation.  It is simultaneously a shout of praise and a cry for help.

Let us now compare the version of the Sanctus/Benedictus still in use at the time of this writing with the new translation.  I add emphases to highlight the changes.

LAME-DUCK ICEL VERSION:
Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

Notice how the punctuation after “Lord” creates a separation from the rest of the actual title.  Also, the lame-duck ICEL version gives a different stress to “Sabaoth”.

NEW APPROVED TRANSLATION:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

When during Holy Mass you say or sing the Sanctus, you place yourself in a line of worshiping disciples wending back into the very earliest years of our Church.  St. Clement of Rome (fl. A.D. 96) in his letter to the Corinthians mentions the liturgical singing of an early version the Sanctus:

“Let our glorying and our confidence be in Him; let us submit ourselves to His will; let us consider the whole multitude of His angels, how they stand by and serve His will.  For the scripture saith, Ten thousand times ten thousand stood beside Him, and thousands of thousands served Him; and they cried, Holy, holy, holy Lord of Sabaoth! all creation is full of His glory. And let us, being gathered together in harmony and a good conscience, cry earnestly, as it were with one mouth, unto Him, that we may become partakers of His great and glorious promises.” (34:5-7)

The great liturgical scholar Joseph Jungmann wrote in his monumental Mass of the Roman Rite:

[T]his hymn, derived from the prophet’s vision, so sparing in words, yet so powerful and weighty, fits best of all in the structure of the eucharistic prayer, especially in the setting mentioned.  All of God’s benefits and the manifestations of His favor, for which we must give thanks, are after all only revelations of His inmost being, which is all light and brilliance, inviolable and without stain, before which creation can only bow in deepest reverence – his holiness.  Wherefore the first phrase taught us by our Lord in his own prayer is: Santificetur nomen tuum.  That the cry resounds three times must have but increased the joy the Christians had in this song, for even when a Trinitarian meaning was not expressly attached to the triple “holy,” still there was inherent in it an echo of this most profound of Christian mysteries.

Posted in "But Father! But Father!", WDTPRS | Tagged
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PODCAzT 109: A dust up in ancient Carthage and parishes that schism

Posted on 19 August 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Many dioceses are having to close parishes.  Now and then a bishop needs to discipline parishes which go renegade.  It sometimes happens that groups of Catholics just go do their own thing.

This got me thinking about a sermon of St. Augustine (+430) delivered in the cathedral of Carthage on 23 January 404.  Aurelius had invited Augustine to come to Carthage, probably to set an example of preaching against the heretical and schismatic Donatists. 

In the sermon in question, a newly discovered sermon listed as Dolbeau 2 or 359B in some lists, Augustine describes a real commotion in church that happened the day before, when he simply left the pulpit as the congregation became rowdy.  On this day, however, he uses the events of the day before to speak about obedience.

There isn’t a strict parallel of the situation Augustine describes in the sermon and what goes on in some renegade groups today, but you will find the hooks quickly and see that they are appropriate.

And so I return to my Patristic roots today and I give my own poor observations along the way.

We have to hear the great Fathers from time to time.  Their work is still actual, in the sense of being timely.

Herein you will hear some recreations of ancient Roman music by Synaulia as well as a slice of Sweetest of Sweets by the wonderful Herbert Howells and the beginning of Bernard Stevens "Agnus Dei" from the Mass for Double Choir.  

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https://zuhlsdorf.computer/podcazt/10_08_17.mp3

Posted in Our Catholic Identity, Patristiblogging, PODCAzT, Wherein Fr. Z Rants |
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Sts. Nunilo and Alodia pray for us… at Ground Zero

Posted on 18 August 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From Dick Morris.com we find this about the proposed mosque at Ground Zero.

My emphases and comments, to be followed by some irony.

The proposed mosque near to ground zero is not really a religious institution. It would be — as many mosques throughout the nation are — a terrorist recruitment, indoctrination and training center.  [As the "Muslim Brotherhood" might propose.] It is not the worship of Islam that is the problem. It is the efforts to advance Sharia Law with its requirement of [eventual] Jihad and violence that is the nub of the issue.

There is a global effort to advance Sharia Law and make it the legal system of the world. Most major banks and financial institutions offer Sharia Compliant Funds which have their investments vetted by the most fundamentalist and reactionary of clerics to assure that they advance Sharia Law. Iman Feisal Abdul Rauf, the founder of the proposed Mosque, helps to prepare a Sharia Index which rates countries on their degree of compliance with Sharia Law. In the United Kingdom, many courts have recognized Sharia as the governing law on matters between two Muslims.

Not only is Sharia Law a vicious anti-female code which orders death by stoning, promotes child marriage, decriminalizes abuse of women, and gives wives no rights in divorce, but it also explicitly recognizes the duty of all Muslims to wage Jihad against non-believers and promotes violence to achieve its goals. In this respect, violent Jihad is as inherent in Sharia Law as revolution is in Communist doctrine.

But there are non-Sharia mosques where peaceful and spiritual Muslims worship God in their own way without promoting violence.  [I wonder.] A soon-to-be published study funded by Frank Gaffney’s Center for Security Policy, found that 20% of the mosques in the United States have no taint of Sharia and simply promote peaceful worship. But 80% are filled with violent literature, Sharia teachings, and promotion of Jihad and its inevitable concomitant — terrorism.

Which brings us to the ground zero mosque. [But not the chapel to Sts. Nunilo and Alodia!] There can be no doubt that any mosque organized and run by Iman Feisal Abdul Rauf will be based on Sharia Law and will serve as local branch office of the pan-Islamic terrorist offensive against the west. That such a facility should be located right next to the place where Jihad achieved its most hideous triumph is unspeakably inappropriate.

President Obama is confusing the issue when he describes it as one of religious freedom. There is broad latitude to worship God as one chooses. But there is none to promote violence and terrorism. The record of involvement of Sharia mosques with the 9-11 attackers and the Ft. Hood massacre shooter is so deep and extensive that it vividly underscores the difference between a religious institution and an organization that promotes terrorism.

Politically, President Obama’s defense of the mosque and his efforts to make it a First Amendment issue are incredibly self-destructive. They raise questions about his political sanity. It is hard to believe how tone deaf he must have become to take such a position. He has now embraced two positions that are anathema to two-thirds of all Americans — the mosque and opposition to Arizona’s immigration law. Neither was a controversy that sought him out. He waded into each one voluntarily with flags flying. He had no role in the Arizona law but his lawsuit to invalidate it made it his fight. He does not sit on the New York City Planning Commission, but his endorsement of the mosque puts him squarely in the center of controversy. What is he using for brains these days?

To continue the efforts to battle Sharia Law and the attempts of radical Muslims to use it to destroy our values and the gains of feminism, [authentic feminism] please follow the work funded by the Center for Security Policy and conducted by David Yerushalmi. To help to fund their efforts, go to centerforsecuritypolicy.org.

We need a chapel at Ground Zero to Sts. Nunilo and Alodia, little girls who were slain according to Sharia Law in 9th c. Spain (which the Sharia time-machine recreates).

Think about this.   And for those who don’t want to think this through, let’s spell it out.

No reasonable person thinks that the developers don’t have the legal right to build a mosque on that spot.  But do they have a moral right to build there? 

There is such a thing as propriety. 

The project of this Mosque is not neutral in meaning.  The location is not neutral in meaning.  The desire behind building this particular mosque is not neutral. 

In my opinion it is spectacularly insensitive to press for this mosque to be built at that site.  It would be tantamount to building a church dedicated to Christian children martyred under an Islamic regime next to a place revered by Muslims.

Sts. Nunilo and Alodia, pray for us.

Posted in Saints: Stories & Symbols | Tagged ,
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QUAERITUR: “self-service” from the chalice

Posted on 18 August 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader, edited:

Last night I was scandalised, apart from the usual "inclusive" language that the Priest used throughout, he asked, after the Priests Communion (normally the EMHC’s are crawling over each other by now) whether there was a "Eucharistic Minister" available – no takers ! Lo and behold he then declared "the chalice will be there (pointing to the Altar) feel free"

This would be considered "self-communication" and it is strictly forbidden.

If he is doing this regularly, the diocesan bishop and/or the Congregation for Divine Worship should be informed.

In Redemptionis Sacramentum you read:

94. It is not licit for the faithful “to take . . . by themselves . . . and, still less, to hand . . . from one to another” the sacred host or the sacred chalice.[181] Moreover, in this regard, the abuse is to be set aside whereby spouses administer Holy Communion to each other at a Nuptial Mass.

       [181]Cf. Missale Romanum, Institutio Generalis, n. 160.

 

 

Posted in ASK FATHER Question Box | Tagged , ,
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Another technical question: back ups and restores

Posted on 18 August 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Those who do a lot of work with a computer may know the old phrase, "Jesus saves, and so should you."

We have probably all had the experience not just of losing minutes to hours of work on a document or project, but perhaps losing, and disastrously, everything because of a hard-drive crash or some other problem.

If you haven’t… you will.

There are offsite back-up companies.  There onsite solutions.

What do you do?

I am particularly interested in hearing about

Programs and hardware for backing up a computer so that you could do a "restore", even to the "bank" disk of a different computer if necessary.  Or even for migrating everything you need to a new computer.

Do you use the built in functions in, say, Windows?

Do you use specialized software?

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes |
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“Don’t equate women priests with pedophiles.” Welllll… Okay!

Posted on 18 August 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

This is from Diogenes at Off The Record:

Janice Sevre-Duszynska, who identifies herself as a "Roman Catholic womanpriest," has chastised the Vatican in an op-ed column written for the Lexington (Kentucky) Herald-Leader. The title encapsulates her demand: "Don’t equate women priests with pedophiles."

Actually I agree with her (or at least with that short statement of her argument– which, I confess, is all that I read). There are very distinct differences between pedophiles and female Catholic priests. Offhand I can think of two:

  1. Nobody ever writes a newspaper column identifying himself as a pedophile.
  2. Pedophiles exist.

Posted in Lighter fare |
47 Comments

America Magazine: Pastor Apologizes for Vatican’s “Insensitive” Words

Posted on 18 August 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From America Magazine with my emphases and comments:

Pastor Apologizes for Vatican’s "Insensitive" Words
August 18, 2010
James Martin, S.J.

A pastor in Oak Park, Ill., has apologized to the women and women religious of his parish for the Vatican’s "insensitive and harsh words." ["insensitive and harsh"?] Here is the story from the local newspaper, the Journal of Oak Park and River Forest.

Rev. Larry McNally, pastor of Ascension Parish in Oak Park, couldn’t remain silent. "One of our catechists quit teaching religious ed. [OH NO!] We’ve been losing lectors and communion ministers all along," [Picture me in my grief.] McNally said. "Then my spiritual director quit." [SAY IT AIN’T SO!] Quit?  [How will he cope?]

"Quit the church. Then I read the article by Sheila O’Brien in the Tribune ["Excommunicate me, please," [Step right up, Sheila.  And, btw, there is an Anglican Church waiting for you.] Aug. 4]. That got to me. I had to do it."  [Oh yes… he was compelled to say something.]

"It" was a letter to the Commentary section of the [Chicago] Sun-Times, published Aug. 10, criticizing his church’s hierarchy for its treatment of women–specifically equating the ordination of women with pedophilia and investigating women’s religious orders.

This past Sunday, he wrote in the church bulletin, "As we celebrate this great feast of Mary, the Mother of God [the Feast of the Assumption], I want to take this opportunity to say to all of our wonderful and virtuous women that I am sorry. I apologize to each one of you for the insensitive and harsh words coming from the Vatican male hierarchy of the church." [What arrogance!]

"We have so many [women]religious who come to our church," McNally said. "I felt I had to say something." [Probably because he is afraid of them.]  As of Monday, he hadn’t received a single negative comment. He knows they’re coming, but he’s overwhelmed by the positive feedback he’s received.

After reading this, I just felt compelled to say something.   I apologize to all Catholics of good will everywhere for the insensitivity of this pastor in Oak Park, IL.  His harsh words wound us all.  I am sincerely sorry for the public damage he has done to the Church’s good reputation. 

Posted in Picture Me In My Grief | Tagged ,
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